Latest Bible Prophecy Commentary
PA Official: No Proposal Can Stop UN Palestinian State Recognition; Turkey To Confront Israeli Gaza Blockade
The Obama administration has begun a last-ditch diplomatic campaign to avert a confrontation this month over a Palestinian plan to seek recognition as a state at the United Nations, but it may already be too late, according to senior American officials and foreign diplomats.
The administration has circulated a proposal intended to be the basis of renewed peace talks with the Israelis - based on a formula that President Barack Obama outlined in May - in hopes of persuading the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, to abandon the bid for recognition at the annual gathering of the U.N. General Assembly beginning Sept. 20.
The administration has privately made it clear to Mr. Abbas that it will veto any request that comes before the U.N. Security Council to make a Palestinian state a new member outright. But the United States alone does not have enough support to block a vote by the General Assembly to elevate the current status of the Palestinians' nonvoting observer ''entity'' to that of an nonvoting observer state.
Senior officials said the administration wanted to avoid not only a veto but also the more symbolic and potent General Assembly vote that would leave the United States and only a handful of other nations in opposition. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss diplomatic maneuverings, said they feared that in either case a backlash could sweep the Palestinian territories and the wider Arab world when the region is already in tumult.
Efforts to head off the Palestinian diplomatic drive have percolated all summer, but have taken on an increased urgency as the vote and the confrontation loom. It has created a diplomatic dilemma for Mr. Obama, who after an uneven start has championed the aspirations of Arab protesters across the region. Now he is in a position of threatening to veto recognition of the aspirations of most Palestinians - or risk alienating Israel and its political supporters in the United States.
''It's not clear to me how it can be avoided at the moment,'' said Ghaith al-Omari, a former Palestinian negotiator who is now executive director of the American Task Force on Palestine in Washington. ''An American veto could inflame emotions and bring anti-American sentiment to the forefront across the region.''
''We're still focused on Plan A,'' another senior administration official said, referring to the diplomatic efforts by the administration's new special envoy, David M. Hale, and the president's Middle East adviser on the National Security Council, Dennis B. Ross. Mr. Hale replaced the more prominent George J. Mitchell, who resigned in May.
The State Department last week issued a formal diplomatic message to more than 70 countries urging them to oppose any unilateral moves by the Palestinians at the United Nations. The message, delivered by U.S. ambassadors to their diplomatic counterparts in those countries, argued that a vote would destabilize the region and undermine peace efforts, though those are, at least for now, moribund.
A statement by the Quartet would be more than a symbolic gesture. It would offer a road map, including a series of meetings and actions, to resume negotiations to create a Palestinian state, based on certain principles, as Mr. Obama described in speech in May. Those principles include Israel's boundaries before the 1967 war, adjusted to account for land swaps that reflect West Bank areas now heavily populated by Jewish settlers, and an affirmation of Israel's status as a Jewish state or homeland.
The Quartet's envoy, Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, visited Jerusalem on Tuesday to negotiate the terms of the proposal with the Israelis. He was expected to return to the West Bank to discuss it with the Palestinians next week.
The Israelis have so far responded positively to the draft, but the Palestinian position remains unclear.
Two administration officials said that Mr. Abbas had indicated as recently as last week that he would forgo a U.N. vote in favor of the prospect of real talks. But a senior Palestinian official, Nabil Shaath, angrily dismissed the American proposal now being circulated as inadequate and said a vote would go ahead regardless.
''Whoever wrote this thought we are so weak that we cannot even wiggle, or that we are stupid,'' he said in a telephone interview from the Palestinian capital in the West Bank, Ramallah. He added, ''Whatever is to be offered, it is too late.''
It would literally take a miracle to reverse the direction of a Palestinian state being recognized by the UN. I will not speculate how this will turn out since we are only a few weeks away from the UN vote. Ultimately, it's in the Lord's hands and He will cause the decisions of world leaders to move in a direction that meets His purpose. Meaning, there is no guarantee that this UN vote will bring about a Middle East war,Iintifada or lasting Arab Spring protest.
However, here's a development that could...Turkey, angry over Israel's refusal to apologize for their 2010 flotilla raid, say the Turkish navy will significantly strengthen its presence in the eastern Mediterranean Sea as one of the steps the Turkish government has decided to take following the release of the UN Palmer report on the 2010 Gaza flotilla, Turkish officials told the Hurriyet Daily News.
"The eastern Mediterranean will no longer be a place where Israeli naval forces can freely exercise their bullying practices against civilian vessels," a Turkish official was quoted as saying.
According to the report, Turkish naval vessels will accompany civilian ships carrying aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Additionally, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan instructed his foreign ministry to organize a trip for him to the Gaza Strip in the near future.
The United Nations on Friday officially approved Israel's maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip as a legal and legitimate measure. The result was the start of a Middle East "cold war" between Israel and former ally Turkey.
http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NachrichtenHeute/tabid/178/nid/22935/language/en-US/Default.aspx
This is a very serious development that could spiral into a full blown Middle East war. With the Iranian navy's 15th fleet already in the region (Red Sea), the only major partner missing from the prophesied Battle of Gog and Magog is Russia. This development could be a far greater threat towards starting a regional war than the September 20th UN recognition of a Palestinian state could ever be.
I would certainly recommend keeping an eye on where this potential Turkey-Israeli naval confrontation leads.
Are you ready to meet the Lord? If not, your time is running out!
Terry Malone
Calvary Prophecy Report
http://www.calvaryprophecy.com/
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